Swedish Aqua Life

When I was in college I would pick up a quarter pound of mixed color Swedish fish at a little coffee shop on campus. They would put them in a crisp white paper bag and I learned that I had some sort of special power that I could pull out any color on demand without looking. It was like I could see colors with my fingers, or maybe my hands had a nose. Anyway, the best part of this trick was that people would like to see me do it, and I would make them provide the bag of fish. I had a rate of about 80% correct guesses.

This new Aqua Life set makes my old trick irrelevant as this mix has a different shape for each color. Unlike other red flavors that I don’t care for (cherry), the red Swedish fish is something else, I’m guessing loganberry. Also, there are two new flavors/colors in the fish family: blue and purple.

All of the candies were soft and chewy and the flavors were solidly good. They’re smooth, sweet and fragrant without much of a tart bite. They tend to stick to your teeth, but not in a tooth-yanking way. The shapes are also fun and easily identifiable, which makes them fun for kids (as if you really need to do anything to make candy fun for kids).

It’s interesting to note that the Swedish confectioner, Malaco, that originally made these invented them for the American market. Which explains why the fish have “Swedish” stamped on their backs (instead of Swedensk or whatever the Swedish word for Swedish is). They’ve only been around since the mid-seventies, but it’s one of those candies that has a timeless feel to it.

The reason I was drawn to them in the first place is because of my whale watching trips. I’ve been taking little candies with me (we’ve had a lot of kids on the boats lately) which help to calm queasy stomachs. I was hoping to find something that fit with the sea adventure theme and these fit the bill (I’ve been carrying individually wrapped lifesavers as well). If I can find them in bulk, I might buy a pound and carry them in a little ziploc bag so the kiddies can pick their favorite shape.

The package states that these candies were made in Canada by Cadbury Adams but licensed from MalacoLeaf, Sweden. So, are they Canadian fish?

I would have given them a 10, but there were some manufacturing defects in my bag, with some overstamps and some little bits that didn’t seem to belong (extra pieces of orange hanging off the seahorse). These may be a good candy for vegetarians (as long as they’re okay with traces of mineral oil) since there’s no gelatin, just corn starch.

These left me a little flat. I like the traditional Swedish Fish, preferably the red ones. Sometimes if I’m feeling bad or self-indulgent I’ll buy the 1 kg box of the mini fish from Target and try not to eat them all in one sitting.

They stopped making the mini grape fish sometime in 2006. They were my favorite too. http://www.swedishfishbrand.com/
Go here to tell them you want them, if enough people do maybe they will bring them back.

I think someone should start a petition web page to get the grape fish back. If enough of us get on there and send the page to the company maybe they will bring back our beloved little grape fish!!!!!!!!

I did write to the company and recieved a response saying that they base their production on sales, basically blowing me off.

I have talked to a local candy store here who ordered them for me in the past. She thinks that her supplier can still deliver them. I don’t see how but if its true I will post it here so everyone can share in the purpley goodness.

I want the grape ones back, too! I’ve been checking online, but even if the store lists it, they’ll also note that it is discontinued. I’ll have to try this Aqua Life, but I must admit, I am partial to the mini red Swedish Fish.

but where do you buy them, im addicted to the orginal and LOVE the flavor blue raspberry. also the dolphin is my favorite animal. im 13 and just want some candy! this is kinda a replacement of chocolate because i dont like chocolate. but to the female hormons chocolate calms them. so this calms me! i have cravings for this all the time! someone please help me!!!!! ):

Does anyone else find a strangely unequal distribution of the flavors in the assorted bags? I always find there the bags are heavy on the side of the red, blue, and orange ones, lighter on the purple and yellow, and extremely light on the green. I’ll be lucky to find more than one green candy in a five-serving, hanging bag of Aqua Life. It’s annoying, because I can already get enough of the red by themselves, and I’ll also get bored of the orange and blue, leaving me wanting more of the rare ones. Yet, this doesn’t seem to be a bag-by-bag situation - They always come this way!

I wish you could bring the purple and raspberry back..I’m addicted to the assorted but orange and yellow are my favorite. I buy a 5 lb bag every couple month and I want to try the aqua marise life..please

Cybele-around since the mid-seventies? They were around in the mid-sixties and way before! Had some today but just the all red/lingonberry, much smaller type..like a small baby fish…:rolleyes:. Still very good and doesn;t get stuck like a Jujube or Juicyfruit or Mary Jane or whatever.

Candyology 101 - Episode 35 - Whatchamacallit
In the latest Candyology 101 podcast, Maria and I tackled a little-celebrated candy bar, the Whatchamacallit. We’re also trying out a new format, which is a little shorter, like a handful of fun size candy bars! (more)

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Please do not use my photos without prior permission directly from me, they represent what I ate in preparation for these reviews and are not to be used for other purposes.